May 5, 2006 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Activity Report
(1) DISASTERS WAITING TO HAPPEN:
Hunter, J. Robert. "False Claims" (Op-Ed). New York Times, May 4, 2006. Accessed at:
[Excerpt: "In mid-April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released its long-awaited guidelines for rebuilding homes and businesses in New Orleans. Americans throughout the country should pay attention, because although these requirements were devised with the best of intentions to spur the reconstruction of a devastated city, they will have negative repercussions far beyond Louisiana. The new guidelines will cripple FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, which is the only assistance available to most Americans trying to protect themselves from flooding caused by natural disasters. They will also cause taxpayers to subsidize dangerous and improper rebuilding in New Orleans, putting many residents in harm's way."]
(2) EMER.MGMT. & HOMELAND SECURITY/DEFENSE HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE, JUNE 6-8, 2006:
Made several changes to the agenda, changing presentation titles, adding Dr. Marvin Hoffman, Appalachian University, as Moderator of the "Perspectives on Catastrophe Readiness and Response -- State Emergency Management Point of View." Jo Ann Nigg at the DisasterResearchCenter, University of Delaware, and Barbara Klingensmith of FloridaStateUniversity have also volunteered to moderate conference sessions.
Received an additional 70 dorm rooms from Admin Support to support the conference, but only becoming available the evening of the first day of the conference, June 6th - for the remainder of the conference. Barbara is working on getting in touch with people on her "Wait" list to see if they would like to transition from motel to dorm room.
Admissions Office reports that 190 applications have been processed.
(3) FEMA:
Marino, Jonathan. "House Attempt At Bill Revamping FEMA Stalls."
Government Executive Magazine, May 3, 2006. Accessed at:
Marino, Jonathan. "House Committee Rips Lack Of Oversight in Katrina Contracting." Government Executive Magazine - Daily Briefing, May 4, 2006. Accessed at:
Waxman, Representative Henry A. "Katrina Contracts Rife With Waste, Fraud, and Abuse." May 4, 2006. Accessed at:
(4) KATRINA:
Hess, Pamela. "DoD Slow, Then Swift On Katrina Relief." United Press International May 3, 2006. Accessed at:
(5) PREPAREDNESS -- OR LACK THEREOF:
Baton Rouge Advocate. "Holden: RiverCenter Will Not Be Used As Shelter." May 4, 2006. Accessed at:
[Point of this article is that Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden is ticked off because New Orleans Mayor Nagin did not coordinate or communicate with Baton Rouge during the development of its latest hurricane plan -- the one envisioning telling everyone to get out of N.O. Presumably some of these people would head north to Baton Rouge, thus the need for coordination and cooperation in the drafting of the plan. Tis what happens when principles of emergency management are ignored.]
Gordon, Meghan. "Blanco Crisis Authority Change Blasted - Jeff Pledges Fight to Keep Local Command." New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 4, 2006.
Accessed at:
[Should be looked at from the point of view of the difficulty in trying to develop and implement highly touted "regional" approaches to disasters and what to do about them.]
O'Driscoll, Patrick. "Military Plans Quicker Hurricane Response." USA Today, May 5, 2006. Accessed at:
[Excerpt: "The Pentagon's homeland-defense branch pledged major improvement Thursday in readiness, resources and response speed to help with catastrophic hurricanes this year. New procedures are in place so disaster assistance can be requested and sent days quicker than in last year's response to Hurricane Katrina, said Adm. Tim Keating, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM. The help ranges from damage assessment, mass feeding and air support to fuel distribution, medical evacuation and route clearing."]
(6) WAR ON TERRORISM:
Odom, William E. "Iraq: Get Out Now." Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2006.
Accessed at:
[Excerpt: "Two facts, however painful, must be recognized, or we will remain perilously confused in Iraq. First, invading Iraq was not in the interests of the U.S. It was in the interests of Iran and Al Qaeda. For Iran, it avenged a grudge against Hussein for his invasion of the country in 1980. For Al Qaeda, it made it easier to kill Americans.
Second, the war has paralyzed the U.S. in the world, diplomatically and strategically. Although relations with Europe show signs of marginal improvement, the transatlantic alliance still may not survive the war.
Only with a rapid withdrawal from Iraq will Washington regain diplomatic and military mobility. Tied down like Gulliver in the sands of Mesopotamia, we simply cannot attract the diplomatic and military cooperation necessary to win the real battle against terror."
LT. GEN. WILLIAM E. ODOM (Ret.) is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a professor at YaleUniversity. A longer version of this article appears in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine,
B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM
Higher Education Project Manager
Emergency Management Institute
NationalEmergencyTrainingCenter
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Department of Homeland Security
16825 S. Seton, N-430
Emmitsburg, MD21727
(301) 447-1262, voice
(301) 447-1598, fax
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